gamespot score:n/a
my score:7.0
(+)Pros:- Highly customizable mechs with tons of available parts,- battle is thrilling once you get the hang of it, - arena fights are pure fun
(-)cons:- steep learning curve,- incredibly fked up controls,- missions are bloody hard
gameplay time:20-30 hours( average)
For today's review the featured game will be armored core: silent line portable. Armored core has been around for quite awhile no? And seeing that gamespot has reviewed almost every armored core game in existence I dont see why they couldnt review this one, the only armored core game I have ever played. Seriously for my 1st armored core game, it really made me want to dive into the series and explore more about it, but due to some.....difficulty issues I have been restrained pretty badly. Anyway, on with it.
Story wise, you are a mecenary with a mech going around doing missions for companies and crap. You practically take part in puny run-of-the-mill missions at 1st and later, as you work for a certain company more and more you are charged with taking more big and story-deciding missions which will force you to work for that company even later in the game. Also, work affects what you will want to do in the later areas of the game.
Silent line portable's gameplay sounds simple but is pretty damn hard. During missions or arena fights you have to zoom around the field with your mech, with usually defeating the opponent as your main objective. Though you can cuztomize your mech into something totally different, unique or insane, controls still remain ridiculously hard, with every button on your PSP being occupied with a command, some buttons even support up to 2 commands...But yeah, back to the point, your gameplay usually makes you zoom around the map (usually not too large), and shoot the hell out of your enemies.
To me silent line is all about the combat, especially the arena. Oh and the customization plays a huge part in the game, it was wad actually made me want to start this game itself. Seeing my borther browse the shop with a ga-zillion available parts to mix and match around with.. it was just too cool. There are a TON of parts for you to buy and cuztomize to your mech, ranging from leg parts, arm parts, shoulder weapons and many other shit. You can totally make your robot either look really badass, or really silly. Its your choice, and the weapon selection is quite wide too, with blade arms, missles, guns and many more, you can have many ways to combat your enemies. And if you can get past all the hard controls and get used to them( which will take awhile),battle can be really exhilarating. Arena matches to me are the best, 1 on 1 with other boss mechs are sweet as hell, with both of you circling each other and firing at the same time....epic. Also most of the boss mechs are stronger than you, making the fight more challenging and fun.
The really only few flaws of the game are with concerns to difficulty...Im super sure. The missions are TOUGH, even with the mastered controls the enemies swarm you like no tommorow and they all do insane damage for just normal enemies. And the control scheme is just fked, without self control customization you can barely learn to do anything amazing. Scratch that, even WITH self made controls theres just too many command inputs too be able to use them all properly and easily. Lastly, if you are new to the series like me...you will probably have a hard time learning to play properly.
Silent line portable if you ask me, shudnt hav been ported to the PSP. With only so many buttons, the PSP is a worse system to play the game on than the PS2. Still, the game aint so bad, the great arena fights saved the game. If you are a fan of the series, pick this up, if you are a newcomer and want to start the series here...I recommend starting somehwere else.
Happy gaming.
